Benjamin Franklin Pearson, (April 4, 1855 – January 31, 1912) was a lawyer, entrepreneur and political figure in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada. He represented Colchester County in the

Nova Scotia House of Assembly The Nova Scotia House of Assembly (french: Assemblée législative de la Nouvelle-Écosse; gd, Taigh Seanaidh Alba Nuadh), or Legislative Assembly, is the deliberative assembly of the General Assembly of Nova Scotia of the province of Nova Scotia ...

from 1901 to 1911 as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

member.

Early life

He was born in

Masstown, Nova Scotia Masstown (2021 population: 156), formerly Cobequid, is a farming community located approximately from Truro, Nova Scotia. Historic background Masstown has its beginnings with French settlers, known as Acadians. They first settled in this ...

, the son of Frederick M. Pearson and Eliza Crowe, and was educated at

Pictou Academy Pictou Academy (PA), founded in 1815 by Dr. Thomas McCulloch, is a secondary school in Pictou, Nova Scotia. Prior to the twentieth century, it was a grammar school; a liberal, nonsectarian degree-granting college; and then a secondary school. Pic ...

and Dalhousie College. He studied law with

Otto Schwartz Weeks Otto Schwartz Weeks, was a lawyer and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented Guysborough County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1874 to 1878 and from 1882 to 1890 as a Liberal member. Early years He was born in H ...

and entered practice in Halifax in 1884.

Career

He was involved in various business ventures, including a steamship service between Halifax and Dartmouth and a railway. He helped establish the Nova Scotia Telephone Company, the People's Heat and Light Company, the Halifax Electric Tramway Company and the

Dominion Iron and Steel Company The Dominion Steel and Coal Corporation (also DOSCO) was a Canadian coal mining and steel manufacturing company. Incorporated in 1928 and operational by 1930, DOSCO was predated by the British Empire Steel Corporation (BESCO), which was a merger o ...

. With American partners, including Henry M. Whitney, Pearson purchased a large number of small independent coal mines in the province. He went on to establish the West India Electric Company, the Cuban Electric Company and the Mexican Light and Power Company. He also acquired a number of newspapers in Nova Scotia, including the ''Halifax Morning Chronicle'', the ''Nova Scotian and Weekly Chronicle'', the ''Daily Echo'', the ''Glace Bay Gazette'' and the ''St. John Daily Sun''. In 1904, Pearson was named King's Counsel. In 1906, he was named minister without portfolio in the province's Executive Council. He was chosen as president of the Nova Scotia Barristers' Society in 1908.

Personal life

In 1876, he married Julia Reading. Together they had a daughter named Florence, who married

Fleming Blanchard McCurdy Fleming Blanchard McCurdy, (February 17, 1875 – August 29, 1952) was a Canadian politician. Born in Old Barns, Nova Scotia, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada for the Nova Scotia riding of Shelburne and Queen's in the 191 ...

(1875–1952). Benjamin Pearson died in Halifax at the age of 56.

References

* 1855 births 1912 deaths Nova Scotia Liberal Party MLAs Canadian King's Counsel {{Liberal-NovaScotia-MLA-stub